The Anklebiters

Throughout the next week, Alex had been constantly asking Hayley what her plans were. Anytime she’d even look at him in class, there is was, waiting to ask her the same question. She realized that sooner or later, she’d have to say yes to him. But for right now, she couldn’t bring herself too, despite having the Anklebiters breathing down her neck about the plan. So at the moment, whenever he asked her, she would decline.

“Hayles? Earth to Hayley?”

The orange-haired girl was pulled out of her trance at the call of her name. She looked up at Jenna as the girl called her name one more time. “Yeah, yeah, I’m listening.” Hayley nodded, running a hand through her hair. “What are we even talking about?” She admitted.

“I asked you how the plan’s going.” Taylor said, resting her head on her hands as she waiting for an answer.

“Uh …” Hayley looked down, biting into her cheek. “At the moment, I’m making him chase me by always declining.”

“How many times as he asked you out?” Abi asked with a smile on her face. Both her and Ash were informed of the plan, by Taylor’s request to not keep any secrets from anyone at the table.

Hayley scratched the top of her head. “A lot, I guess …”

“You need to accept sometime for the plan to even start!” Jenna scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Taylor nodded as Hayley looked down at her lunch, playing around with the food on her tray with her fork. She sighed, and Tay looked over then, already sensing the reason why Hayley has been declining every single date Alex asks her on: she was uncomfortable with the plan. The brunette hesitated, and a moment later, she put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

Hayley glanced over to her with a confused expression, and Tay leaned into her ear, whispering, “Do you really want to do this?”

Hayley took a minute to respond before looking over at her friend and forcing a smile, saying, “Yeah, I’m totally fine.”

She was a great liar.

---

Alex looked over to Anklebiters’ table, debating in his head if he really wanted to do what he planned. He needed to this; it was the only way Hayley might possibly say yes by him doing this in front of her friends, showing he wasn’t afraid to show his wanting to take her out. He glanced back at the guys, eyeing the girl that sat on Jack’s lap before getting back to the matter at hand.

“I’m gonna do it,” he said, and they all raised their eyebrows.

“You’re going to regret it,” Jack reminded in a sing-song voice.

“You’re ridiculous,” Alex said in the same voice, causing the others to chuckle before he started walking towards his desired table.

All eyes seemed to be on him as he made his way to the back of the cafeteria. It was easy to realize that he was heading to the Anklebiters’ table, and it baffled everyone to see a Hustler, one of the most popular guys in the school, walking over to the table owned by the Anklebiters, the other high-rep group at Dulaney. This was something for the Dulaney history books, and Alex even knew that, which was his reason for doing this.

“Hey, Hayley,” he greeted as he approached the table. “Anklebiters,” he then acknowledged the rest of the girls at the table.

The girls’ heads instantly flew to Alex as Hayley slowly looked up at him with wide eyes. Her hands shook in nervousness; it was finally time. She knew why he was doing this. He wanted to show how bad he wanted to take her out by asking her in front of her friends so she would accept. And the worst part was, she had to accept this time, because her friends were around to make her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked monotonously, noticing all the eyes that rested on them right now.

“I wanted to know what you’re doing this Friday?”

The cafeteria seemed quiet, despite the few people still going on with their conversations, and it was like everyone was waiting for Hayley’s answer. She didn’t dare look at her friends as she looked down, playing with a piece of broccoli on her fork. “Um …” She bit down on her lip. “I don’t think I’m doing anything.”

“There’s this movie playing up at Premium Cinemas, Pride and Prejudice. Jack said you might―I mean―” He stopped himself and recounted his words. “The movie looks cool and I was … uh …” He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. “Do you wanna go see it with me?”

She bit her tongue. “Actually, I don’t think I’d like―”

“Psst,” Taylor whispered, nodding her head for Hayley to accept the offer.

Hayley frowned and sighed, finally looking back at Alex’s worried face. “I guess I can go.”

He beamed brightly, “Awesome.” Without thinking, he took her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing it momentarily. Hayley’s eyes went even wider.

“Well, isn’t this sweet?” Taylor exclaimed, pretending to be the opposite of herself. “A Hustler asking out an Anklebiter. I could literally almost cry.”

Alex sensed the sarcasm in her voice, but didn’t say nothing of it. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off the friends of the girl he liked. But the statement also made him confused of her motive, if she even had one.

He still left his confusion hanging in the air as he told Hayley, “I’ll see you at seven then.”

Notes

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